


pretense

by tigriswolf



Series: comment_fic drabbles [292]
Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Gen, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Post-Series, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-26 12:53:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6240163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So far, Methos muses, hands in plain sight with the rest of the hostages, his life after Adam Pierson has not been that much fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: pretense  
> Disclaimer: only Methos isn’t mine  
> Warnings: violence  
> Pairings: none  
> Rating: PG  
> Wordcount: 565  
> Point of view: third  
> Prompt: any, any, _goddamn right, you should be scared of me_

So far, Methos muses, hands in plain sight with the rest of the hostages, his life after Adam Pierson has not been that much fun. He'd just popped in to pick up a book order and two minutes later, while he was still waiting for the clerk to locate his book, two armed gunmen stormed in, shouting. 

As best he could determine, they were looking for somewhere to hide after a bank robbery down the street went bad. Which is just lovely, truly it is. 

The clerk disappeared out the back door, and when Methos went to follow, one of the gunmen had fired at him, and there were already crowds gathering, police and media, and Methos has not been this annoyed since MacLeod's last rant about nobility and forgiveness. 

So now he's cowering with the three other patrons of this shop he shall not be returning to: an elderly woman, a teenager, and a child. The teenager and the child are related, and the child has not stopped crying since the first shot was fired. So far, there are no injuries, but the gunmen are steadily losing it. 

Wonderful. 

Methos' identity this life is as the only heir of a millionaire, who stays out of the limelight while researching whatever catches his fancy. He occasionally publishes anonymously. It's a placeholder, while he restocks everything that was depleted while playing Adam Pierson-as-Methos for MacLeod and Joe (and everyone else who learned his true name [for a given value of _true_ ]).

“What do we do?!” the older gunman demands of the younger. The child is still sobbing, wrapped in his sister’s arms. The woman is praying. The teenager is doing her damnedest not to panic and succeeding surprisingly well. But instead of panicking, she’s _planning_. Methos watches her watch the gunmen and thinks, _Oh, fuck no_. She’s going to try being a hero. It’s entirely possible she’s been doing martial arts since she was young, or has some relative who trained her in hand-to-hand, but it’s also likely that she has no idea what to do and will simply wing it, which could result in everyone getting shot. 

Methos cannot afford to get shot, not with all the media circling out there. 

So instead of waiting it out, like he’d been planning to do, he rolls to his feet the moment the younger gunman comes into reach, punches him in the temple, grabs the gun, breaks the idiot’s kneecap, and spins to face the older gunman while everyone stares at him. 

“I am not having the best day,” Methos says pleasantly while the younger gunman collapses. 

The woman, the teenager, and the child all scoot slightly to the side, so they’re no longer between Methos and the gunman. Methos approves. 

The gunman, who is clearly not the best at this job, is about to completely panic, his hands shaking on the gun. His eyes dart to the man on the ground, who seems to mostly be unconscious, and back to Methos. 

“You haven’t a chance,” Methos tells him with a smile. “Best surrender.” 

The phone next to the cash register rings. Methos drops to his knees as the gunman pulls the trigger on reflex and exasperatedly shoots the fool’s kneecap before lunging back to his feet to grab his weapon, as well. 

Methos’ fellow hostages stare at him, somewhere between awe and fear, and he sighs.


	2. remix pov

When the men burst in shouting, waving guns around, Taylor lunged for Mikey and dragged him to the floor with her. The clerk disappeared and the old lady looking at the 'for sale' shelf turned, gasping and bringing her hand to her mouth, and the college guy muttered something, but Taylor kept most of her attention on Mikey, because he was struggling against her until one of the gunmen fired at— 

Taylor wasn't sure who he fired at, or why, but it made Mikey shriek and then cry. Taylor tried to shush him because the men probably didn't have much patience with crying kids but Mikey wasn't much more than a baby, and coming to Aunt Maggie's bookshop was supposed to keep them _out_ of trouble today. 

Once she had Mikey mostly calmed, Taylor focused on the gunmen. Dad had taught her to shoot, some, before he ran off, and Mama and Aunt Maggie's retired Marine beau (she never called him husband or boyfriend or lover, just _beau_ ) Cal made sure Taylor could take care of herself, and if she can take these guys by surprise— 

Mikey's hiccupping through his sobs now, winding down, and the two guys are yelling at each other, and the old lady is murmuring what sounds like a prayer. The college guy catches Taylor's eye. He can't be that much older than her, looks scrawny and tired, and she'll still sound disbelieving hours later, after she's repeated the story a dozen times, but when he moves, it's nearly too fast to be seen. 

She never does catch his name.


End file.
